Here now, is the World. See there, at the north, the icy land of Hyperborea, where the tall, gaunt Hyperboreans stalk their grim stone cities. And there, Ixia, the frozen land of the dead, where no man walks who's heart still beats.There, in the south, see the ancient and dreaming land of Cemitum, desert home of cinnamon-skinned sorcerors and white temples of their solar gods, and 'neath that sorcerous land, the Black Lands, the Kingdoms of Punt and Zembabwia, Aksum and Nambia, where men have skin as dark as fine wood and the deserts give way to jungles that swelter and seethe and hide prehistoric secrets.There in the southeast, the hot, desert lands of Sakra, Quadiir, and Azghulistan, and the empire of the fire-worshippers, Ahra-Mazda, with its eternal king, Gayomart-Shah. Also here, there is the pastoral land of Elael, where dwell the Elaenites, worshipping their One God, Yawu.Then to the east, see there, the unknowable lands of the setting sun, and the impassable Besarcian Mountains, screening them off from the world, and there the Virtek, the snowy land of fur-clad hunters who serve the dark huntsman gods.In the west, there is the Western Seas, stretching trackless to the edge of the world.Now, there, is our focus, the Armorican Kingdoms, lands of the Armorican peoples, who, being a fractious and barbarian people in the past have carved out the bejewelled and brilliant kingdoms of the West:Snowy Haleco and dark Radoth, with its grim god, Roth. The Durmalgish Marches, where bearded, lawless men consort with Eregard barbarians. There is Seduria, the pastoral kingdom, where the Wizard of the Tower reigns supreme. Thence to the Grand Duchy of Daaldag, and south to Chargia, the forested land, and east to Marcosia, the great kingdom, wherein the King wields the ancient Sword of Justice. There is Kozkil, where the last of pre-Armorican people live, dwelling in the darkness and bowing before their Queen-Priestess of K'Thalath. There, Zlandis, land of the dreamers, where they are artists and poets and bards, and have no hand for war. Southward it becomes warm and Mediterranean. The Kingdom of Orlonia, where the Young Kings rule, and Zinaldia, the kingdom of the sea and the sun. And see, Nermalia, on the edge of the South, and Botheria, the meeting of south and north. There are the barbarian lands of Eregard, Alssonia, and Gotha, an unbroken stretch of wilderness in the shadow of the hulking Khossus Mountains. The Czechki Wilderness, where dwell the roaring Czechki barbarians, strains against the kingdoms of Woron and Watzcha, who man the mighty Tibor's Wall.And all of these are dust without mighty Imperial Arcturus, the Land of Glory, with its satellite kingdoms of Thasar and Nydria and Gloriano. Here, in the Imperial Capitol, the City of Arcturus, called the Polis, dwells the Emperor Tibor Arcturo II, reigning mighty from the Eagle Throne, with the ancient sorceror Aelorio, who peers into the mystic mirror to tell fate for the Emperor.This, then, is the Armorican Land. The land of cold steel. The land where, if enemies surround, a sword is a trusty friend. The land where, when the stink of sorcery drifts upon the wind, warriors rise to the call.

There are no non-human races in the Armorican Lands. Or, should I say, no non-human races that a player can be.Also, in a move that will piss off my friend Magus, players in the Armorican Lands cannot be sorcerors or wizards. The best magic that can be managed by players are very-limited priestly powers and possibly limited natural magic of some sort.Sorcerors, wizards, and warlocks are powerful wielders of the Black Arts. They seclude themselves in towers and fortresses. They are the rulers of countries, or, at the very least, mighty powers in said countries.

The feel I'm going for here is very mythical (You guys know how much I like that "mythical feel"), very old-Arthurian legend, late Romano-Medieval, Conan-the-Barbarian feel. Ya' know what I mean? I hope so.

Always cool to see a new and well thought out campaign setting. My biggest question is: How do they heal?

All these swords, added with open sewers, will cause a great many fatal wound. Even putting the average starting age about 12 or 14 will leave most players dead before 20.

Open sewers. Ever seen that 'salute' the fencers give each other? Back in the days of the musketeers, they drug the tip of thier rapier through the dirt before fighting. The same dirt that horses walked and defectated on, the dirt the chamber pot was thrown on, and the rotten lunch was dropped on as well. Full of filth and muck, a scratch was sure to kill.

So, in Conan, there were several types of characters that survived. The uber-tough, the barbarian; The quick, the fighter; The lucky, the thief; The devious, the traitor?

All those different types have different ways to not be hurt. With no readily available magic healing spells or potions, each character will need a way to not be hurt. That will lead to your different classes and such.

I personally like Low Magic or Rare Magic games. It allows me to focus the game on the characters and their abilities, rather than the equipment they carry.

Low Magic fantasy games are not simple historical simulations, but new and interesting places, where ones wits and sword arm are more important than their magic items. Most traditional fantasy is of the low magic type, Arthur cycle, Doyle and Boroughs, and even Tolkien (LotR one or two items of power in PC hands and the spell casting was not flashy were low magic levels when compared to most fantasy roleplaying games.

Note: You can run a game without any magic and it can still be a fantasy game. Just insert exotic places, interesting beasts, and mysteries that players do not understand, and you will capture a fantasy feel. You can have "great magics" from ancient times crop up from time to time, or be the explanation for certain things in the world. It is just they are all background, rather than foreground elements of the setting.

Just because a game is of a low magic variety, that does not mean there isn't magic. It will just be of the ancient ritual, the Evil Wizard, and the very rare magic item, variety. It just means that magic will not be a part of everyday life and be rare even for adventurers.

This means that magic needs to NOT be used against the PCs all the time. It gets to be an "unfair advantage" the bad guys have over the PCs that way. The occasional "Boss" bad guy or magikal monster is okay, as long as the characters can defeat said opponents without using magic of their own.

On a campaign note, One of the great advantages of running a low magic campaign is the defusing of the "Magical Arms race". The Arms race starts with the players getting a new magikal doohickey or powerful spell (usually to defeat a new powerful opponent or by finding it in treasure). Now that they have the doohickey or powerful spell, all challenges thrown at the PCs must be equal to or greater than that opponent, because the characters can now use it to defeat everything less. So to challenge the players, the opponents must be ratcheted up a notch. Eventually to defeat the new tougher opponents, they get a new item and the process continues. With the presence of easy to get magik items and spells, the arms race escalates quickly.

When you are setting up such a campaign, make sure the players know what kind of game they are getting involved in. Set their expectations early, especially if they are used to running in games with much magic.

You must remain aware of the fact that many players are going to act as though something was 'taken' from them. Work with them. Let them know about your plans. You need to get them out of that mindset. One way to do it is to have an encounter that dramatizes the fact that no one else has magic, or if others do, the repercussions, perhaps socially.

As with any other campaign, the strength of the story is going to woo the players into acceptance. If you have a group that is used to having magical items or spells, what have you, you'll have to seduce them with a really cool story and campaign. Spend some time and prepare good story lines. Make sure the characters are woven together to be a cohesive group. Practice your details and presentation skills- making yourself a better narrator/ storyteller. You can even riff on new pieces of description ahead of time. All of these elements of improved gamecraft and make the game more enticing and exciting. The more special the game seems, the less griping you will have about any expectations the players might of had going into it.

Combats need to be exciting in a low fantasy world. So get yourself and your troupe out of the "roll dice I hit" mentallity. Have movie nights instead of game some times. Watch John Woo Movies, or The Musketeer, or the 70s Musketeer set, or heck any of the old Flynn/ Rathbon swashbuckling movies. Take notes on what they do, so you can use the ideas and descriptions later in the game. Have the players work up their own stunts, given their skills, abilities, and gifts, ahead of time, and reward them for encorporating them into the combat. And make sure the settings for any combat you have is interesting. Never have just a bar fight, make sure there are beams and low fire pits to use and be wary of. Thus by improving the combat scenes, people will feel that they and their non-magikal weapons are just as good as their big boom magic combats.

Note: Make sure the game system you are using can handle various combat options. If it can't, do some work on it, so it will, OR change to antoher game. Remember that most of the "cool" aspects of a combat are really just description of how you do the attack, defense, and the damage you do. Even old AD&D can have exciting combats, as long as the combat is punctuated by exciting description, narration, and the occasional odd act, even though the rules truly did not support anything but a "roll to hit, roll damage" mentality.

Take cues from your favorite low fantasy worlds (like you have CP). If anything you will do in the campaign does not fit the books standard, i.e. "could this happen in book series X?", then don't let it happen.

The Armorican Kingdoms is not medieval, so much as it is Roman.Yes, there is feudalism.But there are also republics, teeming cities, and other less medieval places.Unlike in the early medieval ages, the Armorican Kingdoms have strong economies, including banks.Thus, Armorican advances in craft and technology more resemble those of the Romans than the Medieval Europeans.

GlassThe secrets of making glass elude the Armoricans. In the Empire it has been experimented with, but not to any true purpose.

Armor DesignWhen you think armor in the Armorican Kingdoms, don't think platemail. They don't use platemail.In the Armorican Kingdoms, it is all sorts of mails (chainmail, scalemail, ringmail), as well as armor resembling that of the Romans or Greeks, i.e., armored greaves, bracers, pauldrons (shoulder armor) and hauberks. Total-cover armor is not used.

MedicineLeeches, bloodletting, alchemy, and hokey magic. 'Nuff said.

SanitationIn the Empire, the rich have working toilets and sewers. Otherwise, it's chamber pots, outhouses, and foul sewers in which people sling their trash and corpses and so on.

I'm going to take a page from Iain's book and do a list of languages in the Armorican Kingdoms....

High ArcturanThis is the language of nobility and royalty across the Armorican Kingdoms. It is the "proper" form of Arcturan, and is spoken by the Patricians. Most educated people can speak High Arcturan. This language has much the same sound as the Latin language of Earth, perhaps with an admixture of Greek.

Low Arcturan (AKA Imperial Tongue)This is the most widely-used language in all of the Armorican Kingdoms. Almost every person in the Armorican Kingdoms can speak Low Arcturan. It is not so much another language as a dialect of High Arcturan, sprinkled with foreign words and terms better suited to life in as a commoner. Low Arcturan is the language used by merchants throughout the Kingdoms. It is essentially Vulgar Latin with an Americanized pronunciation.

ZinaldoliThis is the language of the Zinaldians. It is heavily influenced by the southern Nermalian language and by the Arcturans. It has a very flowing, round sound to it, with very few guttural noises. "J"s and "g"s are prounounced as "h"s. Zinaldoli sounds somewhat like Spanish or Italian.

AlssonThe language of the Alsson barbarians. It is a very verbose language, with many terms for different kinds of stones, slopes, chasms, and other things related to the Alssons' mountainous environment. It sounds much like Gaelic or old Scot.

EhlonethThe language of the Orlonians. It is very difficult language with a paucity of verbs and no pronouns. Thus, it has become unpopular in modern decades, and is slowly being replaced by Arcturan languages.

MarcosianThis the very popular language of the Marcosians. It was originally a dialect of Alsson, but has become so mixed with other northern languages, especially Sedurian, it is difficult to tell anymore. Most northerners can find a word that they know in any Marcosian sentence. Because of its mongrel nature, it is often called the Bastard Tongue. It sounds very much like a heavily-accented English.

ChargaiThe Forest Tongue is used by the Chargians. It has changed little in the centuries since the Forest Kingdom's establishment. It still sounds very much like the language of the Tton Islanders of the Iapetus Ocean in the Far South. It is very lyrical and is spoken with high, bird-like noises. Chargai makes heavy use of nature-related metaphors.

SedeurmannThe tongue of the Sedurian riders. It is a guttural, verbose tongue with many hard, throaty sounds. Most R's are rolled. Many Arcturans say that speaking Sedeurmann is like growling with a greasy rag in one's throat. Sedeurmann sounds very much like German.

DeullaakDeullaak is the hard, sharp tongue of the Daalishmen. It is spoken in short, barking phrases. Deullaak does not differentiate between past, present, or future, so many foreigners have trouble with it. It is related to the Raddothuuk tongue, and comes from Kozkirrim'ai.

WallachiThis is the tongue of the Woronites and Watzchans. It is a very "thick", throaty language, with much in common with the language of the Czechki barbarians. It is much more popular in Woron than in Watzcha. Wallachi sounds like a mixture of Polish and Russian.

Lesser ZleiLesser Zlei is the sing-song language of the Zlandics. It has many buzzing, sibilant noises and is spoken in such a manner as to sound almost like singing.

Elder ZleiThis is the extinct language of the Zlaadii, the ancestors of the Zlandics. It was much like a deeper, slower version of Lesser Zlei.

Kozkirrim'aiThis is the trilling, clicking language of the Kozkirrim. It is spoken exclusively in Kozkil. It is a very strange language that is difficult to translate into understandable phrases for Armoricans. The apostrophes in Kozkirrim'ai words (i.e.- A'laa, Ka'laa) is a glottal stop that the Kozkirrim generally accompany by snapping their fingers.

GothThis is the hard, barbaric language of the Gothics. It has many hard "k" and "x" noises. Goth is generally spoken in swift, loud sentences. It has a somewhat similar sound to the old Saxon languages of Earth.

NordmannirrThis is the rough language of the Durmalgishmen and the Eregard. It has many "k" and long "a" noises. "J"s in Nordmannirr are pronounced as "h". Nordmannirr has a very similar sound to Scandinavian languages.

GasparernirrGasparernirr is a dialect of Nordmannirr spoken in the icy city of Gasparr. It is a fast, loudly-spoken language, extremely abbreviated, as efficient as possible. Only sentence fragments are spoken, save in extremely casual situations. For instance, Einjarr Third-Shift, while speaking with Jonni Third-Shift, points to what he thinks is one of the "Enemy" and says "Enemy, tall, hair - red."

TochasskoThis hissing, guttural tongue is the language of the Tocharians. It is extremely difficult to learn, and non-Tocharoi who speak it have difficulty making Tocharoi understand them through their accent.

HinlaThis is the quiet language of the Hin. Most of it's words are one to three syllables, maximum. It is near impossible to translate into understandable sentences for non-Hin.

JayokThe Jayo barbarians of southern Arcturus speak this tongue.

GohblinnThis is the language of the reclusive Gohblinn race. It is mostly silent, and composed of hand signs and body language. What words there are are hoarse grunts and primitive words.

BohushemiThis complicated language is heavily influenced by the southern tongues of Cemitum and the Black Lands. Most foreigners learn the language improperly, leaving out certain blurred sounds and whistles, which are denoted by dashes.

HalecolliaeladainilaithairiallaeolteilleonThis exceedingly long-winded, rapid, verbose, complex language is spoken by the Halecans. Foreigners do not learn this language. It is simply impossible for a none Halecan. It contains many blurred sounds and strange vocal trills that only Halecans can reproduce.

RaddothuukThis is the hard, angry language of the Radothites. It's etymological "parents" are the Nordmannirr and Deullaak tongues, and it's "grandparent", so to speak, is Kozkirrim'ai.

CzechkstaCzechksta is the language of the Czechki barbarians. It is a rough and guttural language. It's etymological roots lie in the same prehistoric language as Wallachi.

HelvetiThis, the language of the Helvetians, language has much in common with the Sedurian and Marcosian languages.

IberIber is spoken by the Iberians. It is dying out and being replaced by the Imperial tongue.

GundThis is the terse, slow language of the Gunds. It has many words related to the ocean and sailing. It is closely related to the Marcosian language. Many sailors learn Gund, merely because it is well-suited for speaking on ships, and also because many rich patrons hire Gunds for their crews.

LicurianThe Licurians of the Black Morass speak this thick, blunt tongue. In Licurian, "f" is pronounced like "v", "y" is pronounced like "uh", "w" is pronounced "oo", and the "ll" is a strange sound that only the Licurians can make, though it is best approximated by "hl".

PaphlagonianThis is the mysterious, slippery language of the Shadow Men. All sounds in Paphlagonian are pronounced. For instance, the "e"s at the ends of words are said with an "eh" sound.

VescorilThe language of the Vescorians is a simple tongue that comes from Marcosian and Arcturan, with smatterings of the Vescorians' original tongue. It has many words for stars and other star-related phenomena.

NermallyrThis is the language of the Nermalians, spoken in Nermalia and along the coast of the Southern Sea.

VolsciThis is the rarely-heard language of the Volsci. It has not changed in centuries, due to the insular culture of the Volsci.

LaestrygonianThis unpleasant tongue, spoken on the Isle of the Laestrygonians, has many words for killing and blood. It has somewhat the pronunciation of Greek.

Corsair (Khyarahsaru)The Corsairs of the South speak this rapid, nasal tongue. It has many words taken from Cemitian and Ancient Atlantean. It is feared language in many southern coastal towns in the Armorican Kingdoms, where the Corsairs often raid.

MekhyurenthisThis is the language of the upper class of the land of Cemitum. It is a mixture of Ancient Atlantean and Cemitian. It is rarely heard in the Armorican Lands, save when noble representatives of Cemitum come.

Cemitian (Khemiti)The ancient language of the Cemitians. This language is regarded with superstition in the North, whereas it is the lingua franca of the South. It has gained popularity with Nermalians, who speak it to scare or irritate Arcturans.

Ancient Atlantean (Ataleyhmal-Phara)The dead language of lost Atlantis. This language is spoken exclusively by sorcerors and the ruling class of Cemitum now. Most magical texts are written in Ancient Atlantean or Mekhyurenthis (see above).

I intend to add more about culture (i.e. marriage, foods, building styles, etc), and a "book" (thread) about lands beyond those of the Armoricans, including the Hellenoi regions, the Virtek Principalities, and Cemitum.

These are some common words and phrases that can be heard Armorica-wide. Many are culled from Arcturan or Marcosian tongues.

Dominus/Domina- "Lord/Lady", Arcturan term of respect that has spread across the Land. Equivalent to words like "sir", "mr.", or "mrs."

Adventurers- People who succumb to the call of the road. In many of the central nations they are looked down upon as vagrants and criminals who are "up to no good", while in the outer nations and wilderness areas, they are quite common.

Amorus/Amora- "Lover". Another Arcturan term. Used for significant others, or as a diminutive in very informal situations (Like a British Cockney man saying "Hello, love" to a pretty girl)

Ranger- Marcosian term for a person who dwells in the wilderness or works in it, used to refer to wilderness scouts, spies, woodsmen, foresters, and the like.

Sellsword or Blade- Term for a mercenary, originally Marcosian.

Marshair- Marcosian for "marshall". Used to refer to police forces of any kind.

Lath und sceadu- Sedurian for "ill and shadow". Used in the North to say "Nothing good", "Bad news", or the like. For instance- "Stay away from that Ronfald. He's lath und sceadu, that one."

Droth or Lobbe- Both mean "spider", one in Turacian (extinct language), and the other in Marcosian. Used as a slang term for a thief, bad person, or one not to be trusted. For instance- "Yea. He's naught but a droth."